blue ribbon

For the last thirteen years, the K-6 teachers at the kids' new school plan art projects and crafts for the students to create and submit for display during the county fair every September. Earlier this month I volunteered to help the teachers for Libby and Julia's classes prepare the class projects for transport to the fair by placing name tags onto each project, placing smaller projects or crafts onto one display, and bundling the whole lot into a butcher paper envelope with teacher/school information on the front so that all the projects could be delivered to the fair in time for them to be placed on display. As a new parent at the school, this was my initiation into the inner workings of "fair project preparation." And I seriously underestimated the magnitude of the venture!

Libby's class made two projects and Julia's class did eight. As the only parent volunteer for both teachers, it took me a good five hours straight [I didn't even stop for lunch] to get everything ready in time for them to be loaded at 3:15 into the SUV that was headed for the fair. I can still remember how exhausted I was when I was done! But I'm so glad the kids had the opportunity to have something entered in the fair, especially since we didn't have any farm animals or such to enter like some other students did. [For some reason I don't think they would have considered our spastic Chinese Shar-Pei, two grubby cats, or four dwarf hamsters fair-worthy!]

And the final results? Libby's class earned blue ribbons for their "Corn Harvest" projects, which were really nicely done by the students! Congratulations all around! Libby said they also earned blue ribbons for their flag projects, although she hasn't brought it home yet. I haven't heard anything yet for Julia's class. Fortunately I have a whole year to recuperate until the next fair...